Optical communication systems enable transmission of optical signals over an optical channel from an optical transmitter to an optical receiver. Optical channels are not ideal in the sense that they cause some amount of noise and/or distortion in the optical signals. The distortion can include linear distortion and/or non-linear distortion. Some optical receivers are equipped with circuitry to recover data received over the optical channel even though the optical signals include some amount of noise and/or distortion.
The amount of noise and/or distortion that is introduced by the optical channel can be a function of many factors. Various factors such as temperature and physical movement for example can affect the amount of noise and/or distortion that is introduced by the optical channel. While some factors could possibly be static, some factors may change from time to time. For example, the temperature of the optical channel could change as a function of its environment.